‘No, I’m sorry...we can’t...’
Of course they couldn’t. The last thing they needed was this kind of complication...except he wanted it so badly. Rafael raked a hand through his hair, desire surging through his body. He was shocked by his instantaneous and overwhelming response, his heart thudding.
Allegra was still looking at him in dazed confusion, her pupils dilated with desire even as her mouth twisted with uncertainty.
The time would come, Rafael decided. Maybe not yet, not when everything was so uncertain, when their child’s future hung in the balance. But the time would come. It had to.
‘I HAVE A surprise for you.’
Allegra looked up from the book she was reading with a cautious smile. Rafael stood in the living-room doorway, the slight curve of his mouth softening his harsh features.
It had been a strange and unsettling ten days, living in the hotel with Rafael, finding a new and tentative normalcy. It had taken a little while, but eventually she’d been able to relax into a routine. Rafael had spent most of his time working in the hotel’s business centre so Allegra hadn’t seen him nearly as much as she’d expected to, which was, to her irritation, both a disappointment and a relief. He was often out in the evenings, although they’d shared a few rather tense meals together, neither of them completely comfortable co-existing in this weird limbo.
Rafael seemed as closed off as ever, his inscrutable manner giving nothing away, although towards her he was all solicitous concern, arranging for private museum tours, taxis and, recalling her shelf of cookbooks in her apartment, baking.
Rafael had insisted she order whatever ingredient or implement she wanted, and with a fully stocked, gourmet kitchen at her disposal Allegra was soon enjoying experimenting with new recipes. Her morning sickness was easing and she was actually starting to enjoy food again.
And then, of course, there was the almost-kiss they’d shared. She’d come back from the spa both buzzing and relaxed, and for a moment, with Rafael’s warm gaze on her, it had felt so natural, so easy to fall into his arms. To tilt her head and wait for his kiss, that connection.
The shock she’d felt when his lips had barely brushed hers, the deep desire that had blazed a streak of lightning need straight through her, had thankfully made her take a step back. Getting involved with Rafael that way was far too dangerous. She was already well out of her comfort zone, simply being here with him, seeing him in passing in the hotel suite. She couldn’t stand an even deeper intimacy, as much as her body craved it.
‘A surprise,’ she repeated now, her eyebrows raised. ‘What kind of surprise?’
Rafael drew two tickets from the inside pocket of his suit jacket. ‘Box seats to the New York Philharmonic playing Bach’s cello suites at the Lincoln Center.’
‘Oh!’ She stared at him in unabashed delight—those were the kind of tickets that were usually well out of her price range, and she was touched that Rafael had thought to buy them. ‘That’s wonderful. When?’
‘Tomorrow night.’
Allegra’s smile faded as she admitted, ‘But I don’t have anything to wear...’ Her maternity clothes consisted of a couple of pairs of loose cotton tops and shorts, and soon her burgeoning belly was going to require more.
‘Problem solved. I’ve arranged for one of the top maternity designers to come here with a selection of evening gowns. You can take your pick.’
‘Oh. Wow.’ Not for the first time, Allegra was both touched and unsettled by Rafael’s thoughtfulness and generosity. At times he seemed a million miles from the cold, hard stranger who had booted her out of his bed. But then at other times...
‘Thank you,’ she said now. ‘For all of it. You’re very kind.’
Rafael shrugged. ‘I thought it might be nice to have a distraction. And when I saw it was a concert for the cello...’
‘You’re very thoughtful. And a distraction would be wonderful,’ she said, smiling shyly. Rafael nodded and gave her the tiniest of smiles back.
* * *
The next morning a glamorous woman dressed all in black arrived with a couple of assistants carrying several plastic-swathed hangers each. While Allegra relaxed with herbal tea and croissants, the assistants laid out all the different evenings gowns—silks and satins, above-the-knee and full-length, in every colour of the rainbow. Allegra had never felt so spoilt for choice, or simply spoiled. She felt positively indulged as she stroked the dresses’ soft fabrics and fingered exquisite lace.
‘I don’t know which to pick,’ she admitted, and Amanda, the fashion designer, swooped in.
‘With your colouring I’d advise the ice-blue. It will make your eyes pop and do wonderful things for your complexion.’
‘Will it?’ Allegra asked, bemused that a simple dress could do so much. Of course, the gown in question was far from simple, with its diamanté-encrusted halter-neck top and daring backless design. ‘I don’t know.’ She nibbled her lip. ‘It looks a bit...sexy.’
‘Why can’t a pregnant woman be sexy?’ Amanda countered with a little smile. ‘You’re blooming and gorgeous. Let people know it.’
Allegra laughed. ‘I haven’t felt either all pregnancy. I’ve felt as worn and wrung-out as an old dishrag.’
‘You don’t look it now,’ Amanda said firmly. ‘And you won’t look it in that dress.’
Persuaded, Allegra tried on the ice-blue gown and was amazed at how different she looked. The dress clung to her fuller breasts and slight swell of her bump before flaring out from her thighs to swirl about her feet. The backless design left the entire creamy expanse of her back bare, right to the swell of her bottom. She blushed to imagine Rafael seeing her in something like this. What if he thought she was trying to impress him? Was she? Suddenly her feelings were in a ferment.
‘I don’t know...’ Already she was reaching for the diamanté ties, doubtful as to whether she could carry off something like this. Amanda stayed her hand.
‘Trust me, no man could resist you in this dress, and certainly not the father of your child.’ Her small, knowing smile made Allegra blush.
Did she want to be irresistible to Rafael? Sex was out of the question, and even kisses would complicate their already ambiguous relationship. The last thing she wanted was to be hurt...again. And yet...she’d felt worn out and ugly for months. The thought of looking good, really good, and having Rafael’s eyes widen with surprise and then flare with desire...
She was tempted. She was seriously tempted.
That evening, as Allegra got ready for their night out, she started to doubt the wisdom of picking such a blatantly sexy dress. What if Rafael was put off by it? What if he thought she was throwing herself at him? What if she was?
And, really, the whole ensemble, from the diamond chandelier earrings Amanda had insisted she wear to match her father’s sapphire necklace to the four-inch silver stiletto heels encasing her feet, felt a little much. Some people wore jeans to the Philharmonic. She didn’t need to be quite so OTT.
And yet it was nice to feel beautiful. The silky material slithered over her skin and the diamonds winked at her ears. The heart-shaped sapphire nestled in the hollow of her throat, winking and glinting. Amanda had arranged for a make-up artist and hairstylist to finish her look, her hair held up by diamond-tipped pins, with a few curls cascading down to rest on her shoulders. She’d never, Allegra knew, looked so good.
Even